"The oil market is suffering its worst slump in decades, brought on by a glut of production. Crude inventories are at their highest levels since 1930 in the U.S., according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
Much of the problem can be traced to a record-breaking surge in U.S. oil production that wouldn’t have been possible without a tremendous amount of debt. Many independent drillers, the small producers that drove the shale boom, outspent cash flow even when oil was $100 a barrel, and made up the difference with bank loans and high-yield bonds."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-01/ultra-petroleum-files-for-bankruptcy-citing-3-9-billion-debt
The other interesting piece of news, though it's not been a secret, the Saudis vow to keep pumping and keep market share. My favorite part:
"Saudi Arabia's determination to keep pumping more oil into global markets brings to mind its former oil minister Sheikh Yamani, who said back in 2000 that the Stone Age did not end for a lack of stones, and the oil age will not end for a lack of oil.
Those working for him at the time (including me), interpreted this as a warning to OPEC about the pursuit of high oil prices: namely, that it would just speed up the development of alternative technologies and drive away customers, leaving oil sitting beneath the ground without buyers."
